ALBERT EINSTEIN, THE RELATIVELY GENIUS PHYSICIST KNOWN FOR HIS GROUNDBREAKING THEORIES ON RELATIVITY AND BUDDHA, THE ENLIGHTENED SPIRITUAL LEADER, WHOSE TEACHINGS HAVE INSPIRED MILLIONS, IF NOT MORE.
AT FIRST GLANCE, YOU MAY THINK OR EVEN FEEL THAT THEY HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON.
BUT YOU WOULD BE RELATIVELY WRONG, AS YOU WILL SOON LEARN THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS OF READING THIS ARTICLE. TOGETHER, WE ARE ABOUT TO UNCOVER AND EXPLORE A MIND-ALTERING CONNECTION THAT WILL LEAVE YOU IN AWE AND MAY CHANGE OUR COLLECTIVE REALITY IN A MOST HARMONIOUS AND MOST PROSPEROUS WAY FOR ALL INVOLVED.
ONCE UPON A TIME, MR. ALBERT EINSTEIN WAS QUOTED TO HAVE SAID THAT HE IS A DEVOUT NON-BELIEVER IN RELIGION; HOWEVER, BUDDHISM IS THE ONLY RELIGION THAT COULD EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THE DEMANDS OF CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE.
SOME HAVE SAID THAT BUDDHISM HAS ALL THE MAKINGS OF A RELIGION THAT COULD BE PRACTICED BY ALL PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE. AS IT IS FOUNDED ON THE RELIGIOUS FEELING THAT EMERGES FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF ALL THINGS, NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL, AS A MEANINGFUL UNITY. IT ALSO TRANSCENDS THE IDEA OF A PERSONAL GOD, AND AVOIDS DOGMA AND THEOLOGY, AND IT EMBRACES BOTH THE NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLDS.
MR. EINSTEIN WAS ALSO QUOTED TO HAVE SAID THAT IF THERE IS ANY RELIGION THAT COULD CORRESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF MODERN SCIENCE, IT WOULD BE BUDDHISM.
BUDDHISM, IN EINSTEIN’S VIEW, WAS NOT ONLY A SPIRITUAL RELIGION, IT WAS ALSO A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE. A HOLISTIC VIEW OF THE COSMOS AND HUMANITY THAT DEMONSTRATED THE COEXISTENCE OF SPIRITUALITY AND SCIENCE.
HE MAY EVEN HAVE FELT THAT BUDDHISM GIVES A FLEXIBLE ATTITUDE, PROVIDING DOORS TO UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE AND OUR PLACE WITHIN IT. WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION: IN A WORLD INCREASINGLY CONTROLLED BY TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENTS, WHAT DO SPIRITUALITY AND SCIENCE HAVE IN COMMON?
WITH HIS RELATIVELY GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY, ALBERT EINSTEIN, AN UNWAVERING FIGURE IN SCIENTIFIC HISTORY, MARKED A DEFINING TIME IN HUMAN HISTORY AND USHERED IN A NEW ERA IN OUR COMPREHENSION OF THE COSMOS. HE FOUND THAT SPACE AND TIME ARE NOT DISTINCT CONCEPTS, RATHER, ARE INTWINED AND VARY DEPENDING ON THE OBSERVERS POSITION AND SPEED BEYOND JUST A FORMULA. THIS IS WHY THE EQUATION E=mc² MAKES A STRONG ARGUMENT FOR THE UNITY OF MATTER AND ENERGY, WHICH ADVANCES THE DISCIPLINE OF PHYSICS, BUT EINSTEIN WAS MORE THAN JUST A MERE RESEARCHER, IN ADDITION, HE WAS ALSO A BRILLIANT PHILOSOPHER AND THEORIZER WHO WENT BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF THE MODERN HUMAN UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENTIFIC THEORY TO FIND A WAY OR EVEN THE MIDDLE WAY TO RECONCILE PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE AND RELIGION. HIS UNIQUE UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGION REFLECTED A SOUL THAT WAS CONSTANTLY SEEKING BEAUTY AND TRUTH RATHER THAN A MINDLESS FAITH, BUT RATHER A DEEP RESPECT FOR THE ORDER AND WONDER OF THE UNIVERSE.
BECAUSE OF HIS UNIQUE ABILITY TO BRIDGE SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND RELIGION, EINSTEIN HAS COME TO REPRESENT ENDLESS INQUIRY AND THE QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE.
RELATIVELY SPEAKING, ALL NATURE’S MYSTERIES ARE UNDERSTANDABLE BY HUMANITY. THE BUDDHA IMPARTED TO HUMANITY A PROFOUND LESSON THAT ALLOWED ONE TO COMPLETELY EXPLORE THE MIND’S LIMITLESS CAPACITY, WHICH IN TURN, LED TO A PROFOUND COMPREHENSION OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD AND TO FREEDOM FROM THE NEVER-ENDING CYCLE OF REINCARNATION.
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TWO IS THAT WHEREAS EINSTEIN LOOKED OUTWARD FOR SOLUTIONS TO THE PUZZLES OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD, THE BUDDHA FOCUSED INWARD, APPROACHING ENLIGHTENMENT VIA OBSERVATION, WISDOM AND SINCERE SELF-REFLECTION.
WHILE EINSTEIN AND THE BUDDHA BOTH APPROACHED THEIR WORK WITH A SCIENTIFIC MINDSET, THE BUDDHA WAS ADAMANT THAT INFORMATION OUGHT TO BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT QUESTION. HE PUSHED FOR OPEN-MINDED VERIFICATION BASED ON LOGIC AND FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE, ACCEPTING ONLY THAT WHICH HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE TRUE. THE BUDDHA ATTAINED THE PROFOUND WISDOM HE SOUGHT VIA THIS WAY.
EINSTEIN HIGHLIGHTED THE VALUE OF MORALITY AND HONESTY IN PEOPLE, BUT HE SEEMED TO THINK THAT FEAR, OR THE PROSPECT OF PUNISHMENT FROM GOD, OR ANY OTHER FORCE SHOULD NOT BE THE FOUNDATION OF MORALITY. HE DECLARED THAT HUMAN ETHICS DO NOT REQUIRE A THEOLOGICAL BASIS. RATHER, THEY SHOULD BE GROUNDED IN COMPASSION, KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS.
“IT IS DEPRESSING TO THINK THAT THE ONLY THINGS HOLDING PEOPLE BACK ARE HOPE FOR REWARDS AFTER DEATH AND FEAR OF PUNISHMENT. HUMANITY IS A WRETCHED SPECIES IF THE MAIN REASON FOR ITS GOODNESS IS ITS FEAR OF PUNISHMENT AND DESIRE FOR REWARD.”
– ALBERT EINSTEIN (RELIGION & SCIENCE, NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 9TH 1930)
EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMED THAT EINSTEIN REJECTED THE IDEA OF THE PERSONAL GOD, HE ALSO SEEMED UNABLE TO EXPLAIN THE UNIVERSES ORDERLY AND ELEGANT CREATION. HE STATED THE FOLLOWING:
“I HAVE NEVER DISPUTED THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL GOD. I HAVE ONLY MADE THIS APPARENT. IF THERE IS ANYTHING RELIGIOUS ABOUT ME, IT IS AN UNBRIDLED APPRECIATION FOR THE WORLDS STRUCTURE AS FAR AS SCIENCE IS ALLOWED TO DISCLOSE ITSELF, RATHER THAN A GOD WHO CARES ABOUT THE DECISIONS AND DEEDS OF PEOPLE. I BELIEVE IN SPINOZA’S GOD, WHO MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN IN THE HARMONIOUS ORDER OF THINGS.”
– ALBERT EINSTEIN, 1954
GOD IS NOTHING BUT PURE NATURE. WHAT IS THE GOD OF SPINOZA AS MENTIONED BY EINSTEIN, THE DUTCH PHILOSOPHER BARUCH SPINOZA CLAIMED THAT GOD IS NOTHING MORE THAN NATURE: MATTER, ENERGY, ATOMS, MOLECULES, LIFE, THOUGHT, INDIVIDUAL SOCIETIES, GALAXIES, AND MAYBE EVEN NUMEROUS UNIVERSES ARE PRESENT IN SPINOZA’S UNIVERSE. HOWEVER, NOTHING, NOT EVEN SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA OR OTHER ABSTRACT PHENOMENA BEYOND OUR CURRENT COMPREHENSION EXISTS OUTSIDE OF NATURE. THEY ARE SIMPLY A CHAPTER OF NATURE IF THEY DO EXIST.
BUDDHISM HOLDS THAT THE COSMOS IS GOVERNED BY 5 NATURAL RULES, OR ‘THE FIVE NIYAMA’S’, WHICH ARE WHAT CAUSE EVERYTHING TO OCCUR. ACTION, OR KARMA IS MERELY ONE OF THOSE COMPONENTS. NUMEROUS SHIFTING FORCES HAS LED TO THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN OUR COLLECTIVE REALITY. EVERYTHING EXISTS IN THE MANNER IT DOES FOR A REASON, WHETHER WE UNDERSTAND IT OR NOT.
“I HAVE REPEATEDLY SAID THAT IN MY OPINION THE IDEA OF A PERSONAL GOD IS A CHILDLIKE ONE. BUT I DO NOT SHARE THE PROFESSIONAL ATHEIST’S FERVOR FOR BATTLING THEISM WHOSE ENTHUSIASM MAINLY STEMS FROM THE PAINFUL LIBERATION PROCESS OF THE RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATIONS OF YOUTH”, EINSTEIN WROTE.
THIS STATEMENT MAKES IT VERY EVIDENT THAT EVEN THOUGH HE REJECTED GOD, HE WAS NOT AN ATHEIST.
“MY PREFERENCES FOR A HUMBLE ATTITUDE THAT ACKNOWLEDGES THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR COGNITIVE COMPREHENSION OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND OURSELVES.”
THE BUDDHA WAS OPPOSED TO THE CONVENTIONAL HINDU BELIEF OF GOD CREATING THE WORLD, ETERNALISM, AS WELL AS MATERIALISM AMONG THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD. HE MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST WELL KNOWN PHILOSOPHER TO REJECT THE NOTION THAT THE SOUL WAS A SUPERIOR ENTITY. WHEREAS EINSTEIN APPEARS TO HAVE SUPPORTED BOTH OF THESE IDEAS. EINSTEIN DISPLAYED HUMILITY IN HIS PRIOR STATEMENT. ACKNOWLEDGING THE LIMITATIONS IN HIS EXPERTISE IN UNRAVELING THE WORLDS MYSTERIES.
LET US CONSIDER MORE OF EINSTEINS WORDS, “A HUMAN BEING, IS A CHAPTER OF THE WHOLE, CALLED BY US ‘UNIVERSE’, A CHAPTER LIMITED BY TIME AND SPACE.”
HE PERCEIVES HIMSELF, HIS IDEAS AND FEELINGS AS DISTINCT FROM THE REST. A TYPE OF OPTICAL HALLUCINATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THIS FALLACY IS LIKE A CAGE FOR US. LIMITING US TO OUR PARTICULAR DESIRES AND AFFECTION FOR A FEW PEOPLE CLOSE TO US. THEREFORE, OUR JOB AS SLAVES TO THIS MATRIX COULD BE TO BREAK FREE FROM THIS CAGE BY BROADENING OUR CIRCLE OF COMPASSION TO INCLUDE ALL LIVING SPECIES, AND ALL OF NATURES BEAUTY. TO DATE, NOBODY CAN OR HAS YET TO ACHIEVE THIS TOTALLY, BUT STRIVING FOR IT IS A CHAPTER OF LIBERTY, AND A FOUNDATION FOR INNER STABILITY. THIS CONCEPT IS CONSISTENT WITH BUDDHIST TEACHINGS. NOTABLY ‘THE MIDDLE WAY’, WHICH AVOIDS THE EXTREMES OF ETERNALISM AND NIHILISM. IT EMPHASISES INTERCONNECTION, AS WELL AS THE VALUE OF COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING BEYOND ONESELF, WITH THE GOAL OF ACHIEVING SPIRITUAL EMANCIPATION THAT OFFERS INNER SERENITY AND A GREATER CONNECTION TO THE UNIVERSE.
MR. EINSTEIN ONCE SAID, “PHYSICAL CONCEPTS ARE FREE CREATIONS OF THE HUMAN MIND AND ARE NOT, HOWEVER, IT MAY SEEM, UNIQUELY DETERMINED BY THE EXTERNAL WORLD.”
THIS COMMENT FROM EINSTEIN OFFERS A PROFOUND PERSPECTIVE ON HOW WE UNDERSTAND AND GENERATE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR SURROUNDINGS. HE CLAIMS THAT PHYSICAL CONCEPTS, HOW WE DEFINE AND INTERPRET NATURAL PHENOMENA, ARE NOT SOLELY GOVERNED BY THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, BUT RATHER ARE PRODUCTS OF THE HUMAN MIND. IN OTHER WORDS, WHILE THE NATURAL WORLD EXISTS INDEPENDENTLY AND OBEYS ITS OWN RULES, THE WAY WE GRASP AND INTERPRET IT THROUGH CONCEPTIONS AND THEORIES IS OUR OWN INVENTION BASED ON OBSERVATION AND REASONING AND IMAGINATION.
EINSTEIN SEEMES TO STRESS THE SCIENCES FLEXIBILITY AND INNOVATION AS WELL AS THE TRUTH THAT THERE IS NO SINGLE METHOD OR DEFINITIVE ANSWER TO ANY SUBJECT. THIS CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION AND ADVANCEMENT AS SCIENTISTS BUILD AND ALTER THEIR THEORIES IN HOPES TO BETTER REFLECT THE NATURAL WORLD. THIS APPROACH HIGHLIGHTS THE NECESSITY OF KNOWING THAT SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IS NOT ABSOLUTE. SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS ARE CONSTANTLY CHALLENGED AND REVISED AS NEW FACTS AND WORLD VIEWS EMERGE. REMARKABLY, THE BUDDHA, WHO LIVED APPROXIMATELY 2500 YEARS AGO, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, STATED A SIMILAR IDEA, ALBEIT IN A DIFFERENT WAY, THAT ALL NOTIONS, SUCH AS CAUSE AND EFFECT, SEQUENCE, ATOMS, BASIC ELEMENTS, ARE ALL FIGMENTS OF IMAGINATION AND MANIFESTATIONS OF THE MIND.
THE BUDDHA BELIEVES THE CONCEPT OF SELF IS NOT REASONABLE. THE SELF IS SIMPLY EMOTION. SO, AWARENESS IS SIMPLY AN ILLUSION AND THE SENSATION OF SELF IS SIMPLY A BRAIN ACTIVITY. HUMANS SIMPLY LIVE IN AN UNCONSCIOUS DREAM LIKE CONDITION SIMPLY BELIEVING IN THEIR OWN EXISTENCE, AND, AS A RESULT, INDIVIDUALS BECOME DEPENDANT ON SIMPLE CONCEPTIONS AND FORMS, UNAWARE THAT THEY ARE NOTHING MORE THAN MENTAL ACTIVITY. THE BUDDHA DECLARED THAT THIS MISPERCEPTION WILL IMPEDE HUMANITIES FREEDOM. THE BUDDHA CALLED THIS IGNORANCE OR ANATTA OR “NON-SELF”, WHICH EINSTEIN DEFINED AS THE ILLUSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
THE BUDDHAS REMEDY TO ESCAPE THE PRISON IS TO DEVELOP AND PURIFY OUR MINDS WHILE FOLLOWING A CLEAR ROAD. THE NOBLE EIGHT-FOLD ROAD AND FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. THE BUDDHAS PATH ALSO INCLUDES SHOWING UNBIASED COMPASSION TO ALL BEINGS. ACCORDING TO THE BUDDHA, ATTACHMENT AND DESIRE CAUSES SUFFERING WHILE ALSO PREVENTING ESCAPE FROM THIS PRISON. ACCORDING TO EINSTEIN, THIS PRISON, LIMITS OUR LOVE TO OUR CLOSEST RELATIONSHIPS. HE STATED THAT COMPASSION MUST EMBRACE ALL LIVING BEINGS IN ORDER TO ESCAPE THIS PRISON.
EINSTEINS EFFORT TO EXPLORE THE MYSTERIES OF THE HIDDEN WORLD CAN BE SEEN THROUGH THIS STATEMENT.
“THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND PROFOUND EXPERIENCE IS THE SENSATION OF THE MYSTICAL. IT IS THE SOURCE OF ALL TRUE SCIENCE. HE TO WHOM THIS EMOTION IS A STRANGER WHO CAN NO LONGER WONDER AND STAND WRAPPED IN AWE IS AS GOOD AS DEAD. TO KNOW WHAT IS IMPENETRABLE TO US REALLY EXISTS MANIFESTING ITSELF AS THE HIGHEST WISDOM AND THE MOST RADIANT BEAUTY WHICH OUR DULL FACULTIES CAN COMPREHEND ONLY IN THEIR PRIMITIVE FORMS. THIS KNOWLEDGE, THIS FEELING, IS AT THE CENTER OF TRUE RELIGIOUSNESS”
– ALBERT EINSTEIN, THE MERGING OF SPIRIT & SCIENCE
MR. EINSTEIN STATED THAT “DESPITE IT’S ENORMOUS INTELLIGENCE THE HUMAN INTELLECT IS STILL INCAPABLE OF FULLY COMPREHENDING THE UNIVERSES UNFATHOMABLE SECRETS.”
HE NEVER STOPPED ADMIRING THE BEAUTY AND ORDER IN WHICH NATURE OPERATES. HE EVEN DESCRIBED THIS ACCEPTANCE AND BETTER UNDERSTANDING AS ‘AUTHENTIC RELIGIOSITY’. AN INTRIGUING INTERACTION BETWEEN THE BUDDHA AND ONE OF HIS STUDENTS REVEALS A SIMILAR APPROACH. THE DISCIPLE SAID “LORD BUDDHA, HOW VAST IS THE UNIVERSE?”, THE BUDDHA RESPONDED “DOES KNOWING THE SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE HELP YOU ESCAPE FROM SUFFERING?”. WHEN THE DISCIPLE CONCEDED THAT IT DID NOT, THE BUDDHA REPLIED, “THEN WHY FOCUS ON MATTERS THAT DO NOT HELP IN ENDING SUFFERING?”
BUDDHISM EMPHASISES THAT INSTEAD OF BECOMING PREOCCUPIED WITH METAPHYSICAL INQUIRIES AND CURIOSITIES THAT DO NOT ADDRESS HUMANITIES CENTRAL ISSUE: SUFFERING. ONE SHOULD CONCENTRATE ON DETERMINING THE CAUSES AND ANSWERS TO IT. BUDDHISM SEES THE UNIVERSE AND AN INFINITE CIRCLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT THAT EXISTS INTERNALLY WITHOUT A PRECISE BEGINNING BUT WITH CYCLES OF RENEWAL AND NEW ERAS OF BEGINNING.
THE LESSONS SHARED BY MR. EINSTEIN AND THE BUDDHA IS TO FREE ONESELF FROM UNNECESSARY CONSTRAINTS BY EXPANDING ONE’S MIND AND COMPASSION, STRIVING FOR DEEP UNDERSTANDING AND COMPLETELY TACKLING THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING.
THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT THOSE WHO ARE CONCERNED WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE AND OTHER TOPICS ARE BEING DISTRACTED FROM THE PURPOSE OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICE. THIS LESSON IS COMMONLY ILLUSTRATED BY THE TALE OF THE POISONED ARROW:
SUPPOSE A MAN GETS SHOT WITH A POISONED ARROW, AND HIS RELATIVES AND FRIENDS LOCATE A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WHO CAN EXTRACT THE ARROW.
SHOULD THE MAN DECLARE: “I REFUSE TO HAVE THIS ARROW TAKEN OUT UNTIL I HAVE CONFIRMATION OF THE SHOOTERS IDENTITY AND FAMILY, AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY WERE A MERCHANT, PRIEST, OR PRINCE, OR WHATEVER. AND UNTIL I FIND OUT WHAT SORT OF BOW WAS USED, AND IF THE ARROWHEAD WAS IRON OR OF THE REGULAR VARIETY, I WON’T PERMIT IT TO BE TAKEN OUT OF ME.”
HE WON’T LIKELY GET THE CHANCE TO HEAR THE OTHER REPLIES BEFORE THE POISON OVERTAKES HIM.
THE BUDDHA USES THIS ANECDOTE TO TEACH US THAT SOLVING IMMEDIATE ISSUES LIKE PAIN AND LACK OF CALM IN LIFE IS MORE ESSENTIAL THAN STUDYING THE GENESIS OF THE UNIVERSE OR ENGAGING IN INCOMPARABLE PURSUITS.
SOME MAY FIND IT INTERESTING TO NOTICE AT HOW MUCH ATTENTION PSYCHOLOGISTS AND SCIENTISTS IN THE PRESENT ERA DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO, IN AN ATTEMPT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE MIND AND BRAIN. IN WESTERN PSYCHOLOGY, AND WESTERN MEDICINE, BUDDHIST MEDITATION TECHNIQUES INCLUDING MINDFULNESS, BREATH MEDITATION AND COMPASSION ARE FREQUENTLY EMPLOYED.
MAYBE IN THE FUTURE, MORE TRUE SCIENTISTS WITH THE SAME VISION AS MR. EINSTEIN AND THE BUDDHA WILL COME OUT TO CLOSE THE KNOWLEDGE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND EASTERN PHILOSOPHY.